Month: September 2021

Publication: “A Collection of Pandemic Poems” FREE and Available for Download Today

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Today, I published “A Collection of Pandemic Poems.” This collection is FREE and can be Downloaded or Printed at flipsnack.com. I will be ordering a small batch of printed copies which I plan on sending to those I dedicated this collection to. 

gif preview of A Collection of Pandemic Poems

A Collection of Pandemic Poems 

by Alina Happy Hansen

In March 2020, I was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While I was unemployed, I wrote poems for friends and family that gave me compensation in return. This collection is comprised of those poems and is solely dedicated to them.

Backstory

Last year was a wild ride. I was unemployed for months during the beginning of the pandemic. I spent eight or more hours a day searching for remote work, applying to jobs, refining my resume, and blogging. In the end, I applied to over 450 jobs before I found a full-time remote position.

During that time, I decided to write personal poems for $, and the response was incredible. Friends and family reached out and ordered poems in exchange for any amount of compensation they wanted to give.

Each poem took me hours to create, from writing various drafts to blending my handwritten poem with carefully crafted designs on cardstock. The poems were framed with unique art, hand-colored, and then mailed to the recipient.

These poems are one-of-a-kind unique pieces. I decided not to include scanned copies of the originals in this collection because I felt those belonged solely to the friends and family I made them for.

How I Ended Up With a Flipbook

For the past few months, I had working on how to publish this collection. In the beginning, I was going to design an entire zine by hand and then make copies the old-fashioned way (using a copier in a print shop). I realized going that route was time-consuming and would waste paper products. I then settled on formatting the collection into a digital zine which turned into this, a flipbook! I chose Flipsnack because it was easy to use, and it gave me complete control over editing the essential elements. 

What’s Next?

Now that I’ve completed this goal, I am refocusing on editing the first five chapters of the novel I’ve been working on for the last few years. It’s been a very long and tedious journey, but I love my book and am committed to fine-tuning it as close to perfection as possible.

Starting next month, I will participate in a Fiction and Poetry workshop by The Writers Studio in San Francisco. This course is fully remote and takes eight weeks to complete. I am so excited to be in another workshop! I think I miss being in school. (I’ve already begun to research out Master’s programs in San Francisco).

Enjoy!

I want to say thank you to all of my friends and family that made this collection possible. I really can’t say it enough. Without your continuous support of my writing, I honestly don’t think I would be where I am now. It means the world to me that such incredible people support me.

Thank you!

The Sea Slides [a poem]

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

The sea slides along the beach,

pushing and pulling. The white froth

gathers, settling on the sand littered

with broken shells, kelp, and the cracked

half-eaten carcasses of crabs. The deep note of

the fog horn covers the rhythmic rushing of the waves.

A seagull cries. The horizon stretches on.

If you liked this post, try one of these:

Poetry Reading at the 2021 Utah Arts Festival
Weird Flower [a poem]

Poetry Reading at the 2021 Utah Arts Festival

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

On August 29th, I participated in the 2021 Utah Arts Festival as a Literary Artist. I read about twenty minutes of poetry, a blend of works in progress, poems written in workshops, and a few pieces that I dredged up from documents I’d long forgotten.

I attempt to crack jokes during my poetry readings to lighten the mood. That’s why you’ll notice these photos of me are a little silly. I usually find that sometimes people can get quickly bored at poetry events, especially if they’re hearing one poet after another reading pretty heavy stuff. This has led me to attempt to “wake up” my audience. I’m still working on how to perfect this process.

Alina Happy Hansen Poetry Reading at the 2021 UAF
Alina Happy Hansen Poetry Reading at the 2021 UAF

The UAF was a packed event on a hot summer’s day in Salt Lake City. The air was hazy from the wildfire smoke trapped in the valley by the mountains, leaving a slight aftertaste in the mouth and an underlying scent everywhere. Besides the smoke, the ongoing Pandemic appeared to be an afterthought for most people in SLC. I saw very few people downtown and at the UAF wearing masks or social distancing. Masks have been recommended for people outdoors because the air quality is so poor.

Alina Happy Hansen at the 2021 UAF

I want to say thank you to UAF, those in charge of the Literary performances, and everyone that attended my reading. I had a wonderful time sharing a selection of my poems and engaging with my audience.

If you liked this post, try these:

Poetry Reading at 2018 Utah Arts Festival
A Writer in San Francisco: A New City, A New Life
https://www.alinahappyhansenwriter.com/portfolio-publications-events/

Weird Flower [a poem]

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet4 Comments

alien tendrils sprout in banana yellow,

a crisscross of purple limbs, a centerpiece atop

your body. what are you? a U.F.O. among the leaves?

a kaleidoscopic array of spikes and colors starburst

from dark hair carefully manicured in a circular

formation. what a strange thing you are.

squash yellows, purples, dark browns, and soft shade of blues.

the design is divine mathematics pleasing to the eye, but

you are a weird flower.

I found this flower on a walk in a residential neighborhood near Coit Tower. I’d love to know what it is, if you know please leave a comment below.